Thursday, July 22, 2010

I have no idea where to start this update. A lot has happened. Good stuff. Not such good stuff. If I’m being completely honest with you, I’ve been having a difficult time lately. I’ve been trying to write this update for about a month and a half now but every time I finish it, I delete it because I don’t like it. I wrote about awesome things that the Lord did while I was in Haiti and other cool stories the Lord is doing in my life and the lives around me.

A lot of times as a full-time missionary, there is a big pressure to always act like everything is ok – like we have everything together. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. We don’t. We are normal people and we aren’t always perfect.
A lot has happened lately. I led a team back to Haiti to partner with YWAM St. Marc in their earthquake relief efforts. I visited my family & friends in Minnesota and I also found out I had skin cancer. Most recently, I broke up with my girlfriend, Jacque. It’s definitely been an interesting ride lately.

So, what do I talk about from here…?

Food Distribution in the Refugee Tent Cities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Haiti was good. It was a difficult outreach but an amazing one at the same time. We did various different things, including: food distribution, tent city/refugee camp ministry, English lessons with refugees, a house build and more. Most importantly though, we saw the Lord transform lives around us. One of the students that went with us is now planning to go into full-time missions to Haiti. It’s so cool to see the Lord grab someone’s heart and also so encouraging when that person is willing to go and follow the Lord!

I also recently had the opportunity to go back to my hometown. It’s always fun to go back to Grand Marais to spend time with my amazing family and friends. While I was in Grand Marais, I had a doctor appointment to check out a dark spot on my finger that I’ve had for about a year. The doctor did a biopsy of it and the pathology report came back saying that it is a piece of skin cancer (don’t worry, it isn’t serious). The hardest part about this isn’t having the skin cancer. That can easily be treated. I could care less about that. The difficult part is that I want health insurance but am not able to get it. Even though it’s been a burden, the Lord has connected me to a few doctors willing to help so it will be taken care of sooner than later. Praise the Lord!

A few days ago, I broke up with my girlfriend, Jacque. It has been a very rough time since then but the Lord is teaching me a lot. I’m not going to go into a two page detailed reason of why we broke up but I will briefly explain it. Basically, I felt the Lord was saying to me that I was going to her for comfort, healing, acceptance, etc. It was almost like I was replacing God with Jacque. God was telling me that I needed to come to Him for healing and for comfort, etc. He wanted me to fully surrender to Him. I fought with this for a few days and tried to do this on my own and make our relationship work even better under my own strength. After the Lord convicted me again of it, I had to talk to her about it. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my life, but I wanted to be obedient to the Lord. We’ll see what happens in the future. Even though it has been extremely difficult and I didn’t want to do it, the Lord has been teaching me a lot. One of the things He is teaching me is to simply cling to Him and rely on Him for everything. He has been giving me such a desire and hunger to search after Him at every chance I can get, whether I have 15 minutes before a meeting to dig into the Word or waking up earlier than I would like to, to spend time with Him in the morning. I’m not saying that this is always easy though. He is teaching me a lot about discipline, which has been challenging but awesome at the same time.

Isn’t it interesting that when we are at a low point in our lives, also known as “in the valley”, we get to know the Lord more than when we’re “on the top of the mountain”? It’s in those hard times when we encounter Him the most. I think that is because we need comfort and the only place we can turn is to God.

I would really appreciate if you continued to pray for me through this season, that the Lord would continue to reveal Himself in such a strong way. Thank you for your continual prayers and financial support. Without people like you, I could not do what I am able to do. You are such an encouragement to me so, thank you!

Friday, July 9, 2010

While I was in Minnesota visiting family and friends recently, I had a biopsy on this weird thing that's been on my finger for about a year and it's been getting bigger. The doctor called me a few days ago to tell me the test results and they found some cancer. DON'T WORRY! It won't kill me and cannot spread throughout my whole body. It can just spread more on my finger if I don't take care of it. Anyways, I just wanted to share that with you and I also want to share my next predicament.

I don't have health insurance but I NEED to get the skin removed somewhat soon so it doesn't get worse. This will require a minor surgery with a dermatologist specialist. Insurance companies will not accept me since now my records says that I had a biopsy and they found the cancer.

So basically, I need to find a dermatologist surgeon that could bless me and do it for free (or very cheap). I am going to call and ask around to various different places and just ask...it's worth a try! That's my biggest prayer request right now that all of the logistics get worked out with finding a way to get it removed.

So...I am looking for a dermatologist that can do surgeries pro bono or for a very cheap rate. I would be willing to fly to a different state (than California) because it would be cheaper than paying the full rate for the surgery. So if you know anyone who would be willing to do this, please let me know.

I will keep you up to date as things unfold. Thank you in advance for your prayer support. I appreciate it.

BIO

Tyler Dean grew up in a small town in northern Minnesota called Grand Marais. He now works as a full-time Christian missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Check out his website for pictures, stories and testimonies on what God is doing in his life and around the world! Enjoy....

My sweet little friend, Andrea.

Juan's Wife

This is Juan's wife, the lady who I wrote about in the blog post titled, "My latest outreach to Nicaragua: August 21-September 5". Check it out...cool story!

Leno

This my my friend, Leno, from Ticuantepe, Nicaragua. I met him in May of 2009 and saw him again two months later in August of 2009. We were able to bless him with three pairs of new eye glasses!! Next time I go back, I hope to bring a wheel chair with me to give to him.

Glue Boys

This is a picture of our team with some of the street kids, also known as the glue boys, in Masaya, Nicaragua.

Diriamba, Nicaragua

Homeless Ministry

Chris & myself in Oceano, California

Homeless Ministry

Modesto, California

AIDS Hospital

Saigon, Vietnam

Prayer

Shelly praying for a man in Thailand.

Prayer in Southeast Asia

On a prayer walk in southeast Asia.

Solar Serve

In S.E. Asia, we worked with a ministry that constructed solar cookers. They give the solar cookers to the poor & needy around Asia and also sell them around the world. The ministry hires deaf people so they're able to provide for their families!

Surf Night

On Thursday nights, we had a dinner where we invited surfers to our house to fellowship!

Surf's Up

Surfing in Vietnam...The lady thought we were professionals! :) Not so much!